Yup. Id work at Home Depot before doing any 135 work. Young or old, its not worth it; plenty of other places to look for flying gigs. Just my .02

 

And that is total APC bulls###.

If you are looking to fly past 65 or you are getting furloughed from your airline or any other reason that you suddenly find yourself unemployed right now your options are limited. Painting 135 as all bad is spray painting when you need to be using an artist’s brush. Not saying Nicholas is great, or even decent. My only experience with them was that one of their management pilots was in my class at SWC, and he left us within a year so I am not sure of the truth on their operations.

But having a job flying is key to getting your next and better job flying. Unless you are typed and/or have strong connections you will not be flying mid to large cabin part 91 jets. 135 gets you that type and time. You just need to be able to be strong enough to be able to tell them to GFYS if they try to pull shady mx or scheduling practices. But how often does that really occur? I’ve done 135 before and after my 121 career. I never ran across that type of pressure. Most operators just want you to work your tour and go home with little or no drama from either side. The nature of charter ops in itself is prone to changes day to day. Don’t get that confused with being pushed to be illegal. No one on either side really wants to deal with an FAA violation. And as a LCA who talks with their POI I can tell you that the FAA pays attention to 135 operations.

 

CactusMike for the victory!

 

It's pretty bad. Rarely do pilots stay for more than a year or two. For good reason. Management changes out fairly often, but the guy at the top with his name on the company stays the same and that right there is probably the issue. To those who say the FAA keeps watch over them, guess again. They've been investigated numerous times and always gotten off the hook. They even used to brag about FAA folks at the FSDO being on the take during indoc. I doubt they still advertise that, but it would be hard to recommend this place unless it was an absolute last resort!

 

These forums are discussion. People asking/talking about different areas of the industry and I offered my opinion; for me, my own view. I've heard an exorbitant amount of negative issues with guys/gals that have been at 135 operations that I personally wouldn't consider one myself. Not "APC bull#$%#" , lighten up Francis.

 

You stated, as a professional pilot, that you'd rather work at Home Depot than fly for a Part 135 operator. Now it sounds like you've never even worked at one??? It's not airline flying but with a 7/7 schedule it's a decent gig. Yes, the actual operator matters. At m last company a retired airline guy said "this is my 3rd (4th?) Part 135 operator, and while they have issues, it's by far the best."

 

I'd be asking myself "Does this place have a retention problem?" And if so, why? Doesn't sound like they're trying very hard to create and foster an environment where employees (pilots) want to stay. Not all 135 outfits are as bad as this place sounds. Just may take a little searching and luck to find them.

 

Good lord, get a grip and put some value on your skill set. Being a vet and deploying for months and years is no excuse. There industry is full of us.
First lesson: your civilian employer is not your friend, does not care about you, and will pay you as little as possible. There is no "greater good" other than money. Your mantra should be "more money, more time off," and fight to get it. Don't settle for scraps.

 

Yes. I've worked at a 91k/135 gig.

 

You're going to Home Depot. $18/hr, before you'd fly for a Part 135 company again? $36,000 a year, 5 days a week vs. $100,000+. Not buying it.